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Sunday, March 15, 2015

Cindy Prascik's Review of Run all Night

Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to the pictures for the latest in a
seemingly-endless series of "Liam Neeson Kicks Butt" movies, Run all
Night.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

Well,
dear reader(s), I have to be honest with you: with two major new
releases on the weekend's docket, this was meant to be a double review.
Yes, I love you all enough that I was going to force myself to see that
damn princess movie.

However, when I got to the theatre and found it
crawling with little girls--all of whom were queuing up to have their
ideas of life and romance irreparably warped by some fool in a glass
shoe--I had to dodge and go with a fourth screening of Kingsman: The
Secret Service instead. It was the only responsible thing to do.

Look, this is one of those movies where I
have little sympathy for anyone who sees it and doesn't like it. It
couldn't possibly be more exactly what you'd expect, so shame on you if
you buy a ticket and then complain about it. Neeson is once again in
fine butt-kicking form, perhaps a little rougher around the edges than
in some of his other, similar films, but no less convincing as the guy
you want to be hanging around with when there's trouble...ANY sort of
trouble.

Joel Kinnaman does a terrific job as the neglected son, dragged
into the very chaos he's worked his whole life to avoid, and Ed Harris
is, of course, great as that guy you'd really be rooting for if only the
movie weren't expressly designed to make you root for that other guy.
Harris undoubtedly could pull off something like this in his sleep, but
it sure is fun watching him.

The movie itself is a bit more grim than
some others of its ilk. Not suggesting for a minute that the Taken
movies and Non-Stop and A Walk Among the Tombstones are a barrel of
laughs, but this one has virtually no lighter moments, and the few it
attempts are so crass and abrasive that they don't do much to lift the
tone.

The movie is set at Christmastime, and the omnipresent Christmas
decorations are a stark contrast to the film's miserable atmosphere. The
timing did leave me curious about a thunderstorm towards the beginning
of the movie and the coloring trees at the end, though. In New York, in
December?

Like the famous ghosts, I think Liam did this all in one
night. We really shouldn't have experienced changing seasons, but I
guess it's hardly the sort of movie where I'd expect perfect attention
to detail. On a personal note, I was delighted to see Bruce McGill (a
favorite in our house), Common, and the many, many New York Rangers
references scattered about the movie.

Run All Night clocks in at
114 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence, language including
sexual references, and some drug use."

It doesn't reinvent the
wheel, but if you like watching Liam Neeson kick ass (and who doesn't?)
you should be decently entertained. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Run All
Night gets five.

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About Me

A movie fan with an insatiable love of movies and pop culture in general.
Back in March of 2006 I started to write up reviews and have been at it ever since.
This blog is currently supplied with reviews from yours truly and the wonderful Cindy Prascik!